Rare & Unusual Carseat Sighting!

I know many of our regular readers are true carseat geeks like me, so I wanted to share my recent experience with a carseat I’ve heard about but never seen in real life. Many thanks to CPS Technician Dan Lucak for going out of his way to bring me this fascinating blast from the past. I wish I knew more about the seat but all I know is that it was FMVSS213 approved and rated from 20-40 lbs. If anyone has additional details, I’d love to know more about it. I’m curious if it was strictly for use in ambulances on a rear-facing captain’s chair or if it was approved for use in regular vehicles too. This model didn’t have a tether strap but it pre-dates the tether strap requirement so that’s not a surprise.

It’s called the Rescu-Air. http://www.epandr.com/products/pediatric/rescuAir.php In the late 90s there was a lot of hubbub around children being transported in ambulances and how to transport them on stretchers. There were a lot of variables in how and when to use the child’s existing car seat and whether ambulances should be stocked with CRs. Some ambulance companies had them but I seem to remember a predominance of the great FP T-Shield. There were concerns about storage and the ability of fabric to be laundered of bodily fluids. I can’t remember when the inflatable seats first came into being but they did address a number of concerns, though they were cost prohibitive and had a decently steep learning curve. I haven’t been an active tech for a number of years now so I’m assuming they weren’t the giant success hoped for.

(CR I never managed to see in the wild during my years of practice? the XCSI airbag compatible seat. I probably would have plotzed.)

My brother is a paramedic and their ambulances have the inflatable CRs. I’m not sure if it is the same as the one in the photo, but I will show him the picture and ask. Would you like me to ask him some questions about the ones in their ambulances? I could probably get him to get pictures of theirs as well.